


In the Rain

by MirrorMystic



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Five And One, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-23
Updated: 2018-04-23
Packaged: 2019-04-26 21:10:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14410635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MirrorMystic/pseuds/MirrorMystic
Summary: Five times they danced past each other in the rain- and the first time they truly met.





	In the Rain

~*~  
  
**I** .   
  
Not even monsoon season could put a dent in her crowds.   
  
She reached up and pulled back the curtain, her ring glinting silver in the light. The sight of the gathered crowd sent a trill of anxiety fluttering through her chest. For what was supposed to be a modest meet-and-greet, her fans still came in droves.   
  
Not _her_ fans, she reminded herself. Not exactly.   
  
“How is she?” asked the man beside her, fiddling with his cuffs.   
  
“She’s…” she hesitated. “She’ll be alright. She’s just taking a mental health day.”   
  
“And you’re sure this has nothing to do with-”   
  
“I’m sure,” she said, then frowned. “It’s definitely… it’s _mostly_ not about that.”   
  
Her agent ran his hands through his hair, prematurely gray- likely because of situations like this one. He fidgeted, adjusting the fit of his dark suit jacket, edged in violet, glancing down at his watch.   
  
“Alright,” Robin sighed. “Well. The show must go on.”   
  
Robin took her hand, threw open the curtain, and ushered her into the light…   
  
~*~   
  
**II** .   
  
The rain did nothing to dull her beauty.   
  
On a glowing screen ten storeys high, she watched Aqua dance, in a frost-blue dress that perfectly matched her hair. She’d seen this music video countless times before- but there was just something about seeing it like a beacon above the city, its brilliant light glittering in the rain. She stood and stared, utterly captivated by Aqua’s effortless grace, hearing her song play out in her head.   
  
Then something zoomed past and spattered her with dirty water, and she saw her bus round the corner without so much as slowing down.   
  
“Hey!” Olivia squeaked in indignation, before groaning and sinking onto the bench.   
  
She trudged into work an hour later, glum and soaked through. A jovial hand clapped into her back so forcefully she was surprised it didn’t smack the rainwater from her clothes.   
  
“You alright there, sweetheart?” came Basilio’s familiar rumble.   
  
“I’m sorry,” Olivia murmured. “I missed my-”   
  
“Hey, hey, none of that,” Basilio said. “It’s gonna be fine. ‘Sides, no one’s gonna come around in this rain, anyhow. I’ll take care of things up front. Let me know if you need anything, yeah?”   
  
Olivia nodded. Basilio patted her shoulder before turning and leaving her alone in the stockroom. She sighed, sitting on a shipping crate. She slipped in her earbuds and clicked on some music. Olivia picked up her clipboard and boxcutter, Aqua’s heavenly voice filling her ears.   
  
_You are the ocean’s gray waves…_   
  
~*~   
  
**III** .   
  
There was something about the rain.   
  
There was something about the way it beaded on glass, how it pitter-pattered down the windows with its own rhythm, its own tempo. There was something… magical, about the rain. Or maybe she was just overthinking things.   
  
“Ladies. Ladies!”   
  
Her choreographer clapped her hands together at the front of the room, and she looked up, turning away from her gloomy reflection in the floor-length window.   
  
“You’re out of step,” Tethys chided, her hands on her hips. “Both of you. What’s gotten into you two lately?”   
  
Azura turned, and caught Ninian staring. Ninian gasped and looked away, guilty, but not before the flash of her crimson eyes burned themselves into Azura’s vision.   
  
“It’s…” Ninian began.   
  
“It’s nothing,” Azura said.   
  
“It’s _something_ , alright,” Tethys said, and sighed. “Look, let’s take a breather. Then we can try this again.”   
  
Tethys wandered off, leaving Azura and Ninian alone in the studio. Azura turned towards the window, folding her arms across her chest. In the glass, she watched Ninian linger behind her.   
  
“We never had a problem with giving each other enough space,” Azura said pointedly.   
  
Ninian swallowed. “...Azura, please. Can’t we talk about this?”   
  
Azura exhaled. “Not now.”   
  
Ninian opened her mouth, closed it again. She nodded, and turned away, bowing her head and hugging her arms across her chest.   
  
Azura stood flanked by two reflections- Ninian behind her, and her own face in the glass, rain streaking down her reflection like the tears she couldn’t show.   
  
~*~   
  
**IV** .   
  
The rain couldn’t dampen her realtor’s spirits.   
  
“So! Whaddaya think?” She said brightly, flipping her mane of red hair and resting her cheek on one finger. “I know, I know- it’s a little on the cozy side…”   
  
“No, no, that’s alright,” Olivia demurred. “I, um… I don’t need too much space.”   
  
“That works out perfectly,” Anna chirped. “You’ll be sharing the place, but your roommate’s the same way. I don’t think crowding will ever be an issue.”   
  
Olivia nodded. She paced the hardwood floors, listening to the rain pattering against the windows. She found her eyes drawn to the closed door at the end of the hall.   
  
“What can you tell me about her?” she asked.   
  
“Well, you know the type,” Anna said. “Artsy. Quiet. Likes her privacy.”   
  
“And the other woman who used to live here? Why did she leave?”   
  
Anna hesitated. “Oh, uh. Well, you know. Things come up.”   
  
Olivia nodded. She gazed up at the modest apartment. Cozy, to use Anna’s term. But in the rain, it didn’t seem so bad. It seemed… tranquil. Serene. Olivia caught Anna’s eyes.   
  
“I’ll take it.”   
  
~*~   
  
**V** .   
  
The rain is supposed to be inspiring.   
  
Instead, Azura found herself staring out the window, glumly tapping a pencil against her chin. A notebook sat on the desk in front of her, open to a page full of a dozen half-formed lines, each one scratched out or smudged over. She sighed, idly tapping at her phone. A trio of incessant text notifications blinked in the corner of the screen like haunting, crimson eyes.   
  
Robin, telling her that the label says her music’s getting “stale” and “formulaic”, and how he hates to be the bearer of bad news, but there are a dozen events coming up, and if he could just get her to take a look at this schedule...   
  
Tethys, scolding her for missing yet another dance practice, needling her for details as to why she’s been so cold lately- colder than usual.   
  
And Ninian, being Ninian, just trying to get Azura to pick up her phone.   
  
Azura sighed. Some part of her, deep down, knew that this sort of isolation wasn’t exactly healthy. The other, more insistent, irritated part of her, wondered what she had to do to get a little privacy.   
  
She needed some air, that’s what. She scraped her chair back, glowered at the empty notebook on her desk, and shrugged on her sweater. She reached for the door, her fingers hovering over the lock. A trill of anxiety fluttered through her chest. She swallowed hard, and the door-   
  
~*~   
  
**VI** .   
  
-opened.   
  
Azura pulled up her hood and made for the door, quietly chiding herself for trying to sneak out of her own apartment. But something stopped her in her tracks- a voice. Her voice. Her song.   
  
The new girl was in the living room, dancing to her song, a feather duster in hand. Her limbs were like ribbons, fluid, elegant, effortlessly graceful. Azura had never seen someone move like that before.   
  
Except that wasn’t true.   
  
Memory snagged Azura’s heart like a fishhook. She grimaced, and reached for the door- when she was once again stopped in her tracks, this time by an embarrassed squeal.   
  
“I- I didn’t see you there!” Olivia squeaked. “I- I’m sorry, I thought I would just do some spring cleaning, and I- I didn’t- I’m sorry! Is the music too loud?!”   
  
Azura turned to Olivia with her hood framing her hair like a wedding veil and a patient smile that took Olivia’s breath away.   
  
“It’s alright,” Azura said gently. “You’re a natural.”   
  
Olivia stammered. “Oh, that’s- that’s nothing, that’s just a, a hobby of mine…”   
  
Azura smiled again, and Olivia promptly stopped talking. Azura nodded towards her speakers.   
  
“This is my song,” Azura said.   
  
Olivia blinked. “What? But you’re-”   
  
_‘Dawn through the gloom, white as a bone, lost in thoughts all alone…’_   
  
Olivia’s eyes grew wide. She’d know that voice anywhere.   
  
“Y-You! You’re Aqua?!”   
  
“I’m half of her,” Azura explained. “My… partner… is the face of the band. But I am her voice.”   
  
“Oh,” Olivia said dumbly, star-struck.   
  
“...Yeah…” Azura said awkwardly. Olivia’s dance was still fresh in her memory. She glanced towards the door, completely forgetting what she’d been about to do.   
  
“Um!” Olivia said, offering her hand. “I’m Olivia! You… probably already knew that…”   
  
Azura smiled.   
  
“Azura,” she said, and took Olivia’s hand.   
  
Olivia smiled. Azura studied the way her cheeks flushed, rosy as her hair, pink like the sun peeking through fog. They stood there together, clasping hands a lot longer than they strictly needed to, while the rain pattered gently at their apartment window.   
  
It was still the height of monsoon season, but today, the rain wasn’t so bad. It felt soothing, refreshing- like winter turning to spring.   
  
Like something new.  
  
~*~


End file.
